


Always

by winstallenski



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt, non-established relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 19:49:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6720226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winstallenski/pseuds/winstallenski
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of Olicity one shots & drabbles</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Through the Night

"Felicity… Felicity!”

The tense expression that had washed over Oliver’s face slowly loosened when he felt her shift under his grasp. He watched her roll over, his hand instinctively reaching out to brush the strands of her silky blonde hair away from her delicate skin as she slowly opened her eyes, blinking rapidly to adjust to the dimly lit room she laid in.

It was three in the morning, and that was the fourth time Oliver had shaken her awake that night. He could have let her be, could have let her go home by herself to begin with, but his protective instincts were still on high alert and after seeing her in the hands of a man as evil as Slade, there was no way he was letting her out of his sight. Not tonight.

In the midst of everything that had went down, Felicity got hurt. Slade’s men took their vehicle out, and they crashed. The moment he felt the van tip, she was the only thought on his mind.

He panicked when he came to because for a split second, the most terrifying second of his life, he thought she was gone. He had to ask Dig if she was breathing; he couldn’t utter the sentence “Is she alive?” because those words scared the crap out of him, especially since they were pertaining to her.

Diggle had reassured him that she was fine, but the amount of fear he felt when she was laying there unconscious stayed with him, and he had to be sure for himself that she was okay. That was why, despite his injured knee, he carried her away from the crash. They would have gotten out of there faster if he had just let Diggle take her, but he needed to feel for himself that she was alright, that she was really breathing, that she was safe in his arms because for five horrible seconds, he thought he had lost her.

He didn’t see the blood at first because all he could focus on was getting away, but when he did, he felt his own start to boil. He worried that she might have been hurt worse than they could tell, but as much as he wanted to fix her up right then and there, their conflict with Slade had reached its peak. Their city needed them.

The moment they had Slade contained, Oliver’s priorities immediately shifted to her. He could see the exhaustion weighing heavily on her shoulders. All he wanted to do was clean her wound and get her home, and that’s exactly what he did. He had expected a fight from her end, but she was surprisingly agreeable which actually worried him more.

She insisted that he didn’t have to stay the night, but where else was he going to go? There was a pretty good chance she might have a concussion, so there was no way he was leaving her alone, and part of him was still on edge from the thought of losing her. After everything, he needed to be as close to her as possible.

The moment they got to her place, she directed him to the bathroom where he tended to her cut and talked excessively to her in an attempt to keep her awake.

_“Hey, look at me.”_

_Felicity groaned loudly, her head lolling forward as she frowned at Oliver through half-slit eyes. He had her propped on her bathroom counter, standing between her legs while he finished placing a bandage to her temple. She had begun to doze off the moment she sat down, an obvious crash from the adrenaline that had been coursing through her all night, but Oliver needed to be sure she wasn’t suffering from a concussion, so he needed her full attention._

_She hummed softly at the feeling of his hands on her face, and if she wasn’t so damn tired, she’d certainly be enjoying the fact that she had him between her legs without having to drop a single piece of clothing._

_Oliver locked his intense gaze on her, his brow furrowing as he inspected her closely. “Are you dizzy? Do you feel like you’re going to get sick?”_

_She shook her head slowly. “I told you, I’m fine. Can I please go to bed now?”_

_She almost pouted at the loss of contact when he removed his hands from her face, but all was forgiven when she felt him lift her from the counter and into his arms. She held her breath for fear of saying something completely inappropriate like she always did, and relished in the fact that he was carrying her for a second time that night._

_“If I’m going to let you sleep, you’re gonna have to deal with me waking you up every hour,” Oliver mumbled as he lowered her back to the ground after getting her to her room._

_Felicity scoffed. “You are not-“_

_“I’m serious.”_

_And he was._

_“You know you don’t have to stay if you don’t-“_

_“I’m not leaving.”_

_And he wouldn’t._

A sense of relief washed over Oliver when Felicity finally settled her gaze on him as she relaxed into the comfort of her mattress.

“You’re still here,” she mumbled, a small smile appearing on her face as she stared up at him, her tired eyes fighting to stay open.

He smiled back, feeling himself being enveloped in the warmth of her presence like he always did when she was around. “I told you I wasn’t leaving.”

“You really didn’t have to do this…”

“You know I did.”

“Why?” Her soft voice surrounded him, the sound of it putting him at ease. “Because I’m your partner?”

“We’re more than partners, Felicity. I think you know that.”

The room fell silent as they gazed at one another. Oliver had realized a little while ago that his life was somehow better with her in it, that through all the darkness, she had become his guiding light. And without that light, his world would surely fade. She was important to him, and not just because she was integral to the team, but because she was the woman he loved. He needed her in his life, even if he couldn’t have her in the way he wanted to.


	2. Endless Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver struggles through the night as Felicity fights for her life.

_I’m trying to hold on,_

_just waiting to hear your voice,_

_one word, just a word will do,_

_to end this nightmare._

          The sound of her whimpering causes his heart to lurch in his chest. Every protective instinct within him was on high alert, and there wasn’t a single fragment of his being that wanted to leave her defenseless, cowering in the backseat of that damned limo, but he knew that their only shot at making it out of this massacre alive was to take the wheel and drive them to safety.

               Grudgingly, he clambered into the front seat, pushing the lifeless body of their driver to the side before slamming his foot on the gas. Bullets ricocheted off every inch of the vehicle as Oliver violated every traffic law in existence in an attempt to save their lives.

               As soon as he felt they were in the clear, his foot pressed on the brakes roughly, causing the car to swerve slightly before coming to a complete stop. He immediately jumped out, checking his surroundings to ensure that they were safe. Glancing wildly in every direction, he realized the street was abandoned; they were alone.

               Without a second thought, he rushed back towards the car, shouting Felicity’s name as worry washed over him. A scream nearly ripped through him when her body almost slipped to the concrete beneath them after he yanked the passenger door open. His throat tightened as he pulled her limp body from the bullet ridden seat, his legs giving out when he felt her warm, sticky blood seep onto his hands.

               She had been shot.

               Oliver’s mind raced as he tried to process what happened. He almost let the guilt swallow him, but he shook it off. Felicity was the priority, not his own pain.

               His heart beat frantically against his rib cage as he checked for a pulse. Bile rose to the back of his throat when he nearly skimmed past it, knowing that if he couldn’t find a shred of life in her, his own would be over. But the consistent thumping of her pulse pounded lightly underneath his shaking fingers. It was faint, but it was there. That was all he could hold on to for now.

               Hot tears threatened to spill from his eyes when he gazed down at her unconscious form and saw the blood dripping from her slack mouth. He didn’t remember pulling his phone from his pocket, but somehow he had managed to dial 911 despite his inability to quell his shaking hands.

               This was supposed to be one of the happiest nights of their lives. The very beginning to a long road of love and happiness together. Now he sat in the middle of an empty street with his fiancé bleeding profusely in his arms.

               He kept his fingers over her pulse while he whispered in her ear, his voice breaking on every syllable as he begged, pleaded with her to stay with him.

               Felicity was a fighter, he knew that. She fought every day for what she felt was right. She fought to save their city. She fought tooth and nail for the life she so desperately wanted to live with him. He knew that she could fight through this. He needed her to. Because if she couldn’t, he would spend the rest of his life fighting to avenge hers.

               Sirens wailed in the distance, signaling the ambulances impending arrival. Oliver’s grip on Felicity tightened. He knew the moment they got to the scene that he’d have to let her go, let them do their jobs so she could live. But a huge part of him was afraid that this would be the last time he ever felt her in his arms. If that truly was the case, he’d hold on to her forever.

  “I love you,” he mumbled against her ear, his tears clouding his vision. “Felicity, I love you.”

               —

                _I know that the night must end,_

_and that the sun will rise._

_I know that the clouds must clear,_

_and that the sun will shine._

               Oliver fiddled with the bloodstained engagement ring he had given Felicity earlier that night, his previously shaky hands now steady as he examined the diamond that had once belonged to his mother. It had been a rollercoaster of a night; his emotions had been taken on a ride he wasn’t sure he could survive again. Not with her.

               The sterile scent of alcohol infiltrated his senses as he kept a watchful eye over her, his piercing blue gaze never straying too far for fear that something awful would happen the second he looked away.

               She was going to be fine. That’s what they kept telling him, their reassuring words playing in a constant loop in his head. It was hard to truly let himself believe that after everything he had been through.

               First there was the realization that Felicity had been shot not once, but three times, something he had been too distraught to notice at first. It was when they were in the ambulance on the way to the hospital that he finally saw the multiple wounds. The paramedics had covered them with gauze, her blood staining the pristine cotton that kept her from bleeding out. He almost lost it right then and there. He felt his hope beginning to falter as he realized that she had to survive three bullet wounds instead of one, yet he got to walk away without a scratch.

       Later on, his worst fear had been played out in front of him in slow motion. 

        She flat lined on the operating table.

      Thirty seconds felt like a lifetime as he felt his world slipping from his hands. It felt like he was being suffocated, like someone was holding a plastic bag over his head rendering him breathless as he watched the doctors try to bring her back.

               After that, the night felt endless.

               Three hours in the waiting room felt more like twenty. He had never felt time move so slow. Despite the agonizing wait, he was lucky he didn’t have to spend that time alone. Donna was there the whole time, along with Thea, Diggle, Laurel and Quentin. Thinking back on the last six hours, he wasn’t sure he would have gotten through the night without them.

               It was four in the morning now, and he hadn’t slept a wink. Donna laid curled up in the seat on the opposite side of the bed, still decked out in her evening wear from the Christmas tree lighting. She had been hysterical for most of the night which led to Thea and the others having to comfort her because Oliver himself was almost inconsolable, and would have been no good to her at the time.

        His mind was much clearer now than it was a couple hours ago. All the endless hours of worry had managed to give him some clarity. Everything was still far from okay; pure rage coursed through his veins as he sat in the hospital room and thought about what Darhk nearly stole from him that night. Damien was relentless – he’d stop at nothing to see this city burn and Oliver burn with it. He wanted to break him, to take everything he cared about most in the world and rip it all away at the drop of a hat. But he wasn’t going to let that happen. As soon as Felicity was well, he would go after him with everything he had. Oliver was going to make Darhk regret the day he was born.

               But through all his anger, he had somehow managed to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Felicity was alive. After all they had been through, she was still breathing. There were several moments that night where he felt helpless, paralyzed by his fear of losing her. He had never been more vulnerable.

In spite of how powerless he felt, Oliver dug himself out of the whole of despair he had fallen into, realizing that the only way he would make it through the night was if he found some sliver of hope to hold on to. His hope came in the form of a ring.

               They had removed the wedding band from her finger in the OR, placed it in his unstable hands while he had been waiting on news about how she was doing. He could have let the diamond be a symbol for that awful night, let it represent the loss he almost endured. Instead he let it be his guiding light. He fought off the dark thoughts that tried to inhabit his mind, ones that had him imagining a funeral he’d barely live through, and replaced them with the hopeful notion that when she woke up, that ring would be hers again. It would forever live on the fourth finger of her left hand, an emblem of his love for her and their future, the future they would definitely get to have together. With that kind of hope in his heart, he knew that the nightmare he had been living had to come to an end. The cloud of fear and despair that hung over his head would lift, the dawn would break and the sun would shine. That faith was the only thing keeping him going.

               As Oliver slipped the ring back onto Felicity’s finger, holding her limp hand in his firm one, he couldn’t help but reflect on what she meant to him. It wasn’t always easy to put his feelings into words, but when it came to her, there was never a shortage of them. Tonight, there was one that stood out in particular.

           Home. That’s what she was to him. She was his home, his salvation, and tonight he nearly lost that. All that was good and pure in his life was almost taken from him by a man who wanted him to endure an even worse hell than he already had. But he refused to let him win. He would try again, Oliver was sure of that, but that wasn’t something he could deal with at the moment. As much as he wanted to hurt Darhk, there was something he wanted even more, and that was to hear Felicity’s voice. Just one word, just a single syllable would suffice. He knew that the second he heard her speak, this endless nightmare would be over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got the idea for this one while listening to "Endless Night" from the broadway version of "The Lion King".


End file.
